The abundance of shale gas resources may spark a U.S. manufacturing renaissance with economic benefits that include cost savings, greater investments to expand U.S. manufacturing facilities, and increased levels of employment, according to a new report released by PwC entitled Shale Gas: A renaissance in US manufacturing?. To achieve these results, however, PwC says that manufacturers must help manage the environmental, regulatory, and tax concerns created by shale gas resources.

PwC expects an estimated $11.6bn in cost savings by 2025 by combining recent natural gas consumption levels with potential natural gas prices under high shale recovery scenarios. Additionally, manufacturing employment could increase by approximately one million workers by 2025 in high shale recovery scenarios.

"An underappreciated part of the shale gas story is the substantial cost benefits that could become available to manufacturers based upon estimates of future natural gas prices as more shale gas is recovered," said Bob McCutcheon, U.S. industrial products leader, PwC.

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